Barrow Blotter

Thursday

Mar 29, 2012 at 8:39 PM

The Barrow County Sheriff's Office reported the following incidents:

THEFT: Some 500 feet of chain link fence was stolen from around a retention pond located on Roxey Lane in Winder. The fence, valued at $1,500, was reported stolen on March 14. Twenty-five manhole covers also were stolen from the Payne Springs subdivision in Winder, a loss of $2,000.

THEFT: A man was arrested at Home Depot on Carl Bethlehem Road and charged with theft by deception on March 14. The man had switched out the bar code for a Gear Wrench rachet set valued at $79 for a service tool priced at $10.97. The man was trying to return the items for store credit.

When an officer patted him down and found money in his pocket, the man admitted that he could have just bought the items instead of stealing them.

SHOOTING COMPLAINT: A Barrow County woman called authorities to complain her neighbor was shooting firearms off his front porch. She said the neighbor shoots his guns about four times a week, always late in the evenings.

When deputies approached the house, the man had gone back inside. They arrested the man and found the lever action gun he had just fired. In the man's living room were several cold beers. He told police he was minding his own business drinking beer and shooting off the gun to scare away the neighborhood dogs and cats that come around his property.

SUSPICIOUS INCIDENT: A Hoschton man came home on March 14 to find his driveway barricaded with tree branches and large rocks. The man believed kids were playing around.

COMPLAINT: A Bethlehem woman called police March 14 to report her neighbor shot at her dog with an air-soft gun or BB gun. The woman was smoking a cigarette in her garage waiting for her dog to return when the neighbor started shooting at it. She did not know if the dog was struck.

BURGLARY: On March 16, police were called out to the Winder Flea Market after the owner found a broken window. The owner reported $1,000 hand tools, 14 clear crystal door knobs valued, a $50 NASCAR collectible and $40 from the safe in the office were missing. The owner believes it was an employee.

BURGLARY: The owner of a house on Creekview Drive in Auburn discovered on March 16 that someone entered the house, which has been vacant for awhile, and cut copper pipe from all of the sinks and plumbing fixtures.

The copper pipe and wiring been removed from the crawl space, too.

THEFT: A Boss Hardy Road man discovered on March 16 that a thief entered his work truck while it was parked at his Winder home and took $125 from his wallet. He also reported that Visa credit card was still in his possession but his card number had been used without his knowledge or permission at two locations.

CRIMINAL TRESPASS: A Winder woman heard a banging on the side of her house around 2:30 a.m. on March 16 and called the sheriff's office. While speaking to the woman, deputies noticed broken eggs in the yard and what appeared to be pancake syrup poured on the door handles of both cars in the driveway, and on the welcome mat at the front door of the home. The woman did not see the perpetrator, and doesn't know who would have wanted to vandalize her home.

The victim was able to use a hose to rinse the syrup and egg away and suffered no permanent damage. The deputy checked neighboring driveways to see if any other homes were targeted, but could find no signs of mischief.

THEFT: A man called authorities on March 18 after a visitor stole his computer.

The guest was at his house to buy marijuana, the victim told a deputy, but when the guest pulled out crack cocaine, the resident asked him to leave. The visitor asked for money and then hit the resident on the head.

The resident shut himself in his bedroom for protection and came out to find his wallet, laptop and cell phone missing and his tires slashed.

COMPLAINT: A Statham man complained on March 18 that overnight someone placed a cooler in the road at the end of his driveway that contained the liquified remains of an animal.

INFORMATION: A Barrow County man reported to police on March 18 that his wife told their minister that she wanted to kill him. The man is seeking a TPO against his wife.

THEFT: A thief took freon from the A/C units of Instrument Care Unlimited, 223 Pickle Simon Road, in Winder. About 30 pounds of freon was taken and would cost $450 to replace.

DISORDERLY CONDUCT: Deputies were called to Haymon Morris Middle School around 8 a.m. after two parents were seen trying to fight in the front parking lot of the school. The two parents were called back to the school to give their versions of the story. One mom said the other woman drove around her car as her daughter was trying to get out.

The woman admitted she drove around, but denied she almost hit the other woman's daughter. Since the stories were conflicting, they each received a warning.

TAMPERING WITH MAIL: A Winder man called police on March 20, 2012 to report that his mailbox was suspiciously open after he had seen it closed all day. He discovered the seal on the back of a wedding invitation had been cut and the envelope was open. Nothing appeared to be missing from inside the envelope. The cut was clean and appeared to have been done with a knife. None of the other mail was damaged or missing.

PUBLIC DRUNKENNESS: A cyclist on Hal Jackson Road discovered what he thought was a dead person around 9 a.m. on March 21, but the man turned out only to be very drunk. The responding deputy found the man lying in the woods off the road with two empty vodka bottles nearby. As the deptuy radioed to dispatchers that the victim was, in fact, alive, the 34-year-old man began to shake his head "yes" emphatically. Police asked the man if he could walk to his residence. After walking about 20 yards, the man fell and was arrested on a public drunkeness charge.

COMPLAINT: On a Winder woman complained on March 21 that her husband found green pellets while eating his morning protein bar. They have eaten these bars and have never found green pellets, she said.

Since her husband already was at work when he discovered the pellets, he called the Athens-Clarke County Police Department. Since the couple bought the bars at a grocery store in Jackson County, the Barrow County deputy advised her to call that department, too.

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